• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Unity to Start Charging Per-Installation Fee with New Business Model Update

AleksandarK

News Editor
Staff member
Joined
Aug 19, 2017
Messages
2,275 (0.92/day)
Unity is introducing some notable changes to its pricing and service offerings, slated to take effect on January 1, 2024. The new Unity Runtime Fee will be based on the number of game installs at the heart of these changes. This fee will apply every time an end user downloads a qualifying game. Unity believes this initial install-based fee allows creators to retain the financial benefits of ongoing player engagement, unlike a model based on revenue sharing. The company clarifies that the fee refers explicitly to the Unity Runtime, part of the Unity Engine that enables games to run on different devices. Additionally, these changes are not going to be not retroactive or perpetual. Instead, all fees will start counting on January 1, 2024. The fee will apply once for each new install and not an ongoing perpetual license royalty, like revenue share.

However, the new Unity Runtime Fee comes with specific thresholds for revenue and installs, designed to ensure that smaller creators are not adversely affected. For Unity Personal and Unity Plus, the fee applies only to games that have generated $200,000 or more in the last 12 months and have a minimum of 200,000 lifetime installs. For Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise, the fee kicks in for games that have made $1,000,000 or more in the last 12 months and have at least 1,000,000 lifetime installs. The table below shows which Unity accounts pay what fees, with costs ranging from $0.2 per install after the first 200,000 installs. After one million installs, each new install starts at $0.15 and $0.125 for Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise, respectively. As the game gains traction, install fees decay, as shown in the table below.



Update 15:36 UTC: Unity issued a statement on company's Twitter/X account that promises changes in the couple of days.

We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
1,803 (0.42/day)
Location
Netherlands
System Name TheDeeGee's PC
Processor Intel Core i7-11700
Motherboard ASRock Z590 Steel Legend
Cooling Noctua NH-D15
Memory Crucial Ballistix 3200/C16 32GB
Video Card(s) Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti 12GB
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 4TB
Display(s) EIZO CX240
Case Lian-Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster ZxR / AKG K601 Headphones
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME Fanless TX-700
Mouse Logitech G500s
Keyboard Keychron Q6
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Benchmark Scores None, as long as my games runs smooth.
Alternative headline:

"Unreal Engine booming as developers abandon Unity."
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
341 (0.06/day)
System Name -
Processor Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard MSI MEG X570
Cooling Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 (4x140 push-pull)
Memory 32GB Patriot Steel DDR4 3733 (8GBx4)
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 4080 X-trio.
Storage Sabrent Rocket-Plus-G 2TB, Crucial P1 1TB, WD 1TB sata.
Display(s) LG Ultragear 34G750 nano-IPS 34" utrawide
Case Define R6
Audio Device(s) Xfi PCIe
Power Supply Fractal Design ION Gold 750W
Mouse Razer DeathAdder V2 Mini.
Keyboard Logitech K120
VR HMD Er no, pointless.
Software Windows 10 22H2
Benchmark Scores Timespy - 24522 | Crystalmark - 7100/6900 Seq. & 84/266 QD1 |
The per install scam must be a right wheeze for the owners of unity, because games can be installed multiple times costing the games dev each time you install it if you over the install limit that activates the fee. This is just crazy and I would have thought bordering on, if not illegal. I would exspect to see some competition and market regulatory bodies to have something to say about this.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
Messages
1,178 (0.85/day)
Perhaps this is meant to reduce amount of cheap Unity made crap flooding Steam and such?
 
D

Deleted member 185088

Guest
Why so complex, to my knowledge unreal engine has a much simpler fee system, just follow it and make more competitive.
 
Joined
Sep 13, 2022
Messages
114 (0.18/day)
It seems to make they're trying to make more out of high profile titles like BG3 and Rogue Trader.
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
3,537 (0.72/day)
Processor AMD 5900x
Motherboard Asus x570 Strix-E
Cooling Hardware Labs
Memory G.Skill 4000c17 2x16gb
Video Card(s) RTX 3090
Storage Sabrent
Display(s) Samsung G9
Case Phanteks 719
Audio Device(s) Fiio K5 Pro
Power Supply EVGA 1000 P2
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Corsair K95
I've heard U is gonna get the shit shorted out of it over this. How to piss ppl off in one easy step... :laugh:
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Messages
418 (0.10/day)
This makes me fear for a couple of games I like, hopefully they can run away without too much damage...
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
3,531 (0.85/day)
System Name Skunkworks
Processor 5800x3d
Motherboard x570 unify
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory 32GB 3600 mhz
Video Card(s) asrock 6800xt challenger D
Storage Sabarent rocket 4.0 2TB, MX 500 2TB
Display(s) Asus 1440p144 27"
Case Old arse cooler master 932
Power Supply Corsair 1200w platinum
Mouse *squeak*
Keyboard Some old office thing
Software openSUSE tumbleweed/Mint 21.2
This all relates to unity somehow not being profitable. How these guys manage to waste so much cash as to be unprofitable, while unreal makes money hand over fist, is anybody's guess. Sounds to me like they should be firing their C suite and restructuring management.
 
Joined
Jul 13, 2016
Messages
2,930 (1.02/day)
Processor Ryzen 7800X3D
Motherboard ASRock X670E Taichi
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 Chromax
Memory 32GB DDR5 6000 CL30
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 4090 Trio
Storage Too much
Display(s) Acer Predator XB3 27" 240 Hz
Case Thermaltake Core X9
Audio Device(s) Topping DX5, DCA Aeon II
Power Supply Seasonic Prime Titanium 850w
Mouse G305
Keyboard Wooting HE60
VR HMD Valve Index
Software Win 10
It seems to make they're trying to make more out of high profile titles like BG3 and Rogue Trader.

BG3 uses a proprietary engine developed by Larian. This change does not impact that game at all..
 
Joined
Jun 8, 2022
Messages
342 (0.47/day)
Location
Ohio, USA
System Name Trackstar
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D -30 All Core CO (on Corsair XC5 block)
Motherboard Gigabyte B550 AORUS Elite V2 Rev 1.0 (F17 BIOS)
Cooling Corsair XD5 pump / Corsair XR5 1x 360mm (front) + 1x 420mm (top) rads
Memory 32GB G.Skill DDR4-3600 CL14 (F4-3600C14Q-32GVKA)
Video Card(s) ASRock RX 6950XT OC Formula (on Bykski A-AR6900XTOCF-X block)
Storage WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB w/HS
Display(s) Dell S3222DGM 32" 1440p/165Hz FreeSync
Case Fractal Design Meshify S2
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1200 Integrated Audio
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex Platinum SE 1200W on Liebert GXT4-1500RT120 UPS
Mouse Corsair Nightsword RGB
Keyboard Corsair K60 RGB PRO
VR HMD N/A
Software Windows 11 Pro 23H2
Benchmark Scores https://www.3dmark.com/sw/1131940 https://www.3dmark.com/fs/29315810
*cough* Godot Engine *cough*
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
10,132 (5.16/day)
Location
Midlands, UK
System Name Holiday Season Budget Computer (HSBC)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Motherboard MSi PRO B650M-A WiFi
Cooling be quiet! Dark Rock 4
Memory 2x 16 GB Corsair Vengeance EXPO DDR5-6000
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6500 XT 4 GB
Storage 2 TB Corsair MP600 GS, 2 TB Corsair MP600 R2, 4 + 8 TB Seagate Barracuda 3.5"
Display(s) Dell S3422DWG, 7" Waveshare touchscreen
Case Kolink Citadel Mesh black
Audio Device(s) Logitech Z333 2.1 speakers, AKG Y50 headphones
Power Supply Seasonic Prime GX-750
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2S
Keyboard Logitech G413 SE
Software Windows 10 Pro
So every time I install a high-profile Unity game, the developer gets charged. What a load of...! :shadedshu: Contracts like this should be illegal.
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2023
Messages
232 (0.56/day)
System Name Can it run Warhammer 3?
Processor 7800X3D @ 5Ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling Enermax Liqmax III 360mm
Memory Corsair Vengeance @ 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus Strix 3080
Storage Silicon Power XS70
Display(s) BenQ EX2710Q, BenQEX270M
Case NZXT H7 Flow
Audio Device(s) AudioTechnica M50xBT
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex III 850W
Perhaps this is meant to reduce amount of cheap Unity made crap flooding Steam and such?
Probably not. "For Unity Personal and Unity Plus, the fee applies only to games that have generated $200,000 or more in the last 12 months and have a minimum of 200,000 lifetime installs"

It's meant to make Unity more money.
 
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
11,878 (2.29/day)
Location
Manchester uk
System Name RyzenGtEvo/ Asus strix scar II
Processor Amd R5 5900X/ Intel 8750H
Motherboard Crosshair hero8 impact/Asus
Cooling 360EK extreme rad+ 360$EK slim all push, cpu ek suprim Gpu full cover all EK
Memory Corsair Vengeance Rgb pro 3600cas14 16Gb in four sticks./16Gb/16GB
Video Card(s) Powercolour RX7900XT Reference/Rtx 2060
Storage Silicon power 2TB nvme/8Tb external/1Tb samsung Evo nvme 2Tb sata ssd/1Tb nvme
Display(s) Samsung UAE28"850R 4k freesync.dell shiter
Case Lianli 011 dynamic/strix scar2
Audio Device(s) Xfi creative 7.1 on board ,Yamaha dts av setup, corsair void pro headset
Power Supply corsair 1200Hxi/Asus stock
Mouse Roccat Kova/ Logitech G wireless
Keyboard Roccat Aimo 120
VR HMD Oculus rift
Software Win 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores 8726 vega 3dmark timespy/ laptop Timespy 6506
Nope, ill not buy into that.

and devs are not going to swallow it.

shit I change my mind so often they would have to be musk to cope.
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
3,537 (0.72/day)
Processor AMD 5900x
Motherboard Asus x570 Strix-E
Cooling Hardware Labs
Memory G.Skill 4000c17 2x16gb
Video Card(s) RTX 3090
Storage Sabrent
Display(s) Samsung G9
Case Phanteks 719
Audio Device(s) Fiio K5 Pro
Power Supply EVGA 1000 P2
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Corsair K95

Unity Technologies Inc. canceled a planned town hall and closed two offices Thursday after receiving what it said was a credible death threat in the wake of a controversial pricing decision earlier this week.

The company was “made aware of a potential threat to some of our offices" and has "taken immediate and proactive measures to ensure the safety of our employees,” a spokesperson said in a statement. Unity is closing offices that could be potential targets on Thursday and Friday, and is “fully cooperating with law enforcement.”
Gotta smh my head at this story.
 
Joined
Jan 11, 2022
Messages
530 (0.61/day)
If they want to do this they should make a clean break and introduce Unity 2

I don't see how any judge would side with unity if this were to go to court
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2023
Messages
57 (0.13/day)
Just another nail in the coffin... what with them already alienating modding communities thanks to il2cpp...
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2012
Messages
3,531 (0.85/day)
System Name Skunkworks
Processor 5800x3d
Motherboard x570 unify
Cooling Noctua NH-U12A
Memory 32GB 3600 mhz
Video Card(s) asrock 6800xt challenger D
Storage Sabarent rocket 4.0 2TB, MX 500 2TB
Display(s) Asus 1440p144 27"
Case Old arse cooler master 932
Power Supply Corsair 1200w platinum
Mouse *squeak*
Keyboard Some old office thing
Software openSUSE tumbleweed/Mint 21.2
Yeah right... They saw how unpopular this is and knew they would get roasted and are now scrambling for solutions before loosing all their clients to Unreal :D
And polygon reached out to SF FBI and was told no report has been filed. HMMMMM......
 
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
3,537 (0.72/day)
Processor AMD 5900x
Motherboard Asus x570 Strix-E
Cooling Hardware Labs
Memory G.Skill 4000c17 2x16gb
Video Card(s) RTX 3090
Storage Sabrent
Display(s) Samsung G9
Case Phanteks 719
Audio Device(s) Fiio K5 Pro
Power Supply EVGA 1000 P2
Mouse Logitech G600
Keyboard Corsair K95
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,849 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11
I don't see how any judge would side with unity if this were to go to court
It's not retroactive, ie it only applies to new builds. Which means anything newly made. Which while perfectly legal, is plenty bad enough to avoid using it.

Just another nail in the coffin... what with them already alienating modding communities thanks to il2cpp...
At least IL2CPP had technical merits. This is just greed.

Mofos act lile they be the only game engine out there.
They are the only high level one really worth its salt other than maybe godot. Guess what I expect will see a huge influx of dev-users soon?
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 29, 2023
Messages
500 (1.48/day)
System Name Gungnir
Processor Ryzen 5 7600X @1.25v
Motherboard ASUS TUF B650M-PLUS WIFI
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assasin 120 SE Black
Memory 2x16GB DDR5 CL36 5600MHz
Video Card(s) XFX RX 6800XT Merc 319 @1.1v @2600MHz clock @2140MHz vram freq. (surprisingly stable)
Storage 1TB WD SN770 | 2TB WD Blue SATA III SSD
Display(s) 1440p 165Hz VA
Case Lian Li Lancool 215
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 80Ohm
Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA 750W 80 Plus Gold
Mouse Logitech G Pro Wireless
Keyboard Keychron V6
VR HMD The bane of my existence (Oculus Quest 2)
IMG_1134.jpeg

Yeah, about what I expected
 
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
5,351 (0.76/day)
Location
Ikenai borderline!
System Name Firelance.
Processor Threadripper 3960X
Motherboard ROG Strix TRX40-E Gaming
Cooling IceGem 360 + 6x Arctic Cooling P12
Memory 8x 16GB Patriot Viper DDR4-3200 CL16
Video Card(s) MSI GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Ventus 2X OC
Storage 2TB WD SN850X (boot), 4TB Crucial P3 (data)
Display(s) 3x AOC Q32E2N (32" 2560x1440 75Hz)
Case Enthoo Pro II Server Edition (Closed Panel) + 6 fans
Power Supply Fractal Design Ion+ 2 Platinum 760W
Mouse Logitech G602
Keyboard Logitech G613
Software Windows 10 Professional x64
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
20,849 (3.40/day)
System Name Pioneer
Processor Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory 64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s) XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage 2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s) 55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s) TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11
What's wrong with Unreal?
Nothing, but it's not a high level language based one. It uses C++ to my knowledge. This makes both modding more diffilcult, and attracts a different type of dev.
 
Top